On 3-2 vote, Chelmsford board keeps single tax rate (VIDEO)

CHELMSFORD -- The town will maintain its nearly 20-year single tax rate, though selectmen are divided on the issue.

The Board of Selectmen voted 3-2 in favor of keeping the single rate Monday night after hearing passionate arguments from both sides over the course of their last two meetings.

Chairwoman Pat Wojtas and Selectman Ken Lefebvre said they felt it didn't make sense to institute a split tax rate that would raise taxes on businesses as Chelmsford tries to attract more business to town.

"I think to put up an obstacle to that, even if it's a minor one, is a bad move to make right now," Wojtas said.

Vice Chairwoman Laura Merrill joined them in voting for the single rate.

Selectman Glenn Diggs argued the single rate, while an attractive quality, is just one of many aspects a business will consider when exploring where it should locate. He said the single rate was the only economic development tool the town had the past 20 years, and now it has the Route 129 area Business Amenity Overlay District and will soon hire a director of business development.

"How did that serve us in the last 20 years when we have fallen behind other towns in terms of economic development?" Diggs said. "That constant rate didn't help us one iota because it isn't the most important -- it isn't in the top group of why companies relocate in a town.

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Selectman George Dixon said he was also in favor of instituting a small shift in taxes toward commercial as a means to show the residents and the town's large senior population that they care.

Merrill said they should consider spending less and increasing the levy by less than the full 2.5 percent each year to provide tax relief before looking to a split rate.

"That's going to put the pressure on us to come up with these creative solutions and not just keep kicking the can down the road," she said.

The estimated tax rate for fiscal 2018 is $17.92 per $1,000 valuation. It has not yet been approved by the state Department of Revenue. Town Manager Paul Cohen said he expects the rate will drop slightly, but average tax bills will still go up because residential values rose more than 5 percent.

Some residents had hoped for a split rate as a means to provide tax relief for residential taxpayers, especially senior citizens on fixed incomes.

"Not only is it fair that for-profit businesses pay taxes at a higher rate than residents, it's something that happens in most of the towns around us, like Billerica, Lowell and Tewksbury," said Precinct 4 Town Meeting Rep. Dennis Sheehan.

He said the single tax rate seems to have only attracted "marginal businesses that are unable or unwilling to invest here," while many older residents are forced to move out of town because they can no longer afford the rising taxes.

Precinct 5 Town Meeting Rep. Glenn Thoren said the last time the town went to a split rate, it took years to return to a single rate. He said a split rate offers residents only a "perceptive advantage, perhaps only for a short amount of time."

Attorney Doug Hausler, speaking on behalf of the Chelmsford Business Association, suggested other options that seniors could pursue, such as a provision in state law that allows those over age 70 to defer a portion of their taxes, with interest, until they sell their homes.

He said businesses in town have never "turned a deaf ear or a blind eye" when the community has needed support for civic and school groups, and asked the town not do the same to them.

Jimmy Kalogeropoulos, a business broker with RE/MAX, said Chelmsford has much longer on-market times to lease commercial space than its neighboring communities and clients here often have to give considerable rent discounts to attract tenants. He said adding to the burden they already have would be "irresponsible."

Annmarie Roark, a local attorney who owns an office building on Billerica Road, said her bank refused to renew her 20-plus-year loan because she has been unable to secure a tenant, and she can't raise rents on the others for fear they will leave. She said tax classification would make it harder for her to get and keep tenants.

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